Sit-in at the Ministry of Education headquarters in Beirut, Sept. 28, 2023. (Credit: Screen capture from a video circulating on social media.)
BEIRUT — Around 10 activists and public school teachers held a sit-in at the Ministry of Education headquarters in Beirut on Thursday to protest the challenges facing the education sector in Lebanon.
According to videos circulating on social media, the demonstrators protested after they were denied a meeting with caretaker Minister Abbas Halabi because they refused to turn off their phones.
"We asked the protesters to turn off their phones and film what they had to say after their meeting with the minister, but they refused," a ministry spokesperson told L'Orient-Le Jour.
"Minister Halabi, who was receiving the Indian ambassador, was, however, ready to welcome them," he added.
⬅️ ? المطلوب من كل لبناني وطني شريف ومن الأهالي والتلاميذ الموجوعين، التوجه حالاً إلى #وزارة_التربية من أجل دعم المواطنين والثوار الموجودين هناك لمقابلة وزير اللا تربية #عباس_الحلبي ، الذي امتنع عن لقائهم في وجود الإعلام …https://t.co/2z8sh0NvTRhttps://t.co/nY8g5sGScA pic.twitter.com/kaZHOBGTpW
— LDR™️الحق??ثورة (@LDRSH17101) September 28, 2023
Protesters chanted their demands on ministry premises.
"The ministry is supposed to protect students and find solutions to the problems they face, especially in public schools and at the Lebanese University," one protester argued in a video posted on social media.
"What is most dangerous [for Lebanese students] is an attempt to integrate Syrian students into classes," he cautioned.
Participating in the protest, lawyer and activist Wassef El Harakeh warned, in comments to L'Orient Today, against an "attempt to destroy the education sector."
"Why does the ministry not make a clear decision regarding the integration of Syrian students? Why does it not support public school funds when Lebanon receives foreign aid for the education sector?" he asked.
Harakeh condemned "the lack of transparency in the ministry" and raised another issue: "The gap between the public and private school curricula."
He said that a national conference will soon be organized to discuss the protection of public education in Lebanon.
The education sector, particularly in public schools, faces significant challenges in crisis-ridden Lebanon.
Last year, classes in public schools were repeatedly suspended as teachers refused to work unless their salaries were paid and their working conditions were improved. In the private sector, the dollarization of school fees burdens households in a country where more than three-quarters of the population lives below the poverty line.